Photography and Books
by Dragondeathdrop
Summary: When Weiss Schnee goes into a tiny bookstore looking for a photography book she meets the raven-haired, amber eyed Blake Belladonna who aspires to be a librarian. Soon the isolated heiress starts to see life through a new set of lenses and gain new friends.
1. Chapter 1

**Photography and Books**

Weiss Schnee had her headphones in as she approached "Once upon a Page." After a rather fruitless hunt at two other bookstores she was told to come here. With her first semester of college rapidly approaching she wanted to find the photography book that she had been hunting for all summer.

Weiss opened the door and stepped inside hoping they had what she wanted. Her eyes went wide as she gazed up at the ceiling and she spent a few moments just enjoying how the shop looked.

The inside of the store was dimly lit by chandeliers, there were rocking chairs and various other seats interspersed throughout the stacks.

Beyond the entryway was a small mahogany desk that was occupied by an older woman who was helping a customer. Weiss turned her music off, put her headphones back in her bag then proceeded to head into the stacks of books.

As Weiss browsed the selections absentmindedly she heard a voice from behind her. "Do you need some help?" Weiss turned around to see the older woman from the desk.

"Yes ma'am. I was hoping to find this book." Weiss handed her the paper she held in her hand and after a pause the woman nodded "Let me go get Blake she knows this entire place like the back of her hand. Wait here a moment."

The woman walked off and Weiss decided to open a book as she waited. After five minutes a mellow voice interrupted the book's flow "Are you the one who wanted the photography book?" Weiss looked up and saw who she assumed was Blake. Blake glanced up from the book that she was reading and then flitted back down.

What struck Weiss was how pretty Blake was: Long black hair and amber eyes that had eyeshadow, ripped black jeans and a white button up shirt, complete with nametag, and a headband/choker combination completed her look.

"Yes. That's me"

"Follow." Even with her nose buried in a book Blake managed to seamlessly weave in and out of the stacks of books effortlessly as Weiss followed her.

"So, why are you getting a photography book? They're not very popular so I'm a little curious." Blake asked as she stopped in front of a small stack that barely reached Weiss's knee.

Weiss knelt down then said "I plan on majoring in photography."

Blake nodded as she bookmarked her page "Where do you go?"

Weiss blinked she wasn't expecting that but she decided to answer honestly. "I'll be starting at Beacon University this semester."

Blake nodded as she knelt down to help Weiss."I'll be going there too. I want to be a librarian."

Weiss nodded as she found the book that she was looking for "Ah, here it is. I'm surprised that you had it. This is the third bookstore I've been too."

Blake let out a small chuckle "We tend to get very unique or hard to find books here. I'm not sure why but I'm not complaining." As they stood back up Weiss held out her hand "Thanks for your help Blake."

"Your welcome…."

"Oh, right I'm Weiss."

"Your welcome Weiss."

"Maybe I'll see you at Beacon Blake?"

"Maybe." Blake disappeared back into the stacks leaving Weiss alone.

Weiss made it back to the front of the bookstore and paid for her hard-acquired photography book. " _This was a very busy day. I just want to go home and sleep. I'm glad I managed to find what I was looking for."_

 ** _I wrote this a couple of months ago and never really did anything with it so I decided to upload it as a one-shot. Maybe one day I'll decide to make this a full fledged story._**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

After work thoughts

The rest of Blake's shift was unremarkable but she couldn't get Weiss out of her head, which was odd since the patrons didn't normally stand out, but she decided to try her best. As she drove home, she turned her mind to finishing a show that she had started with her younger sister some time ago.

Once she got home and parked, she made her way to the door and opened it. "I'm home!" she yelled into the living room and it was only a moment before she heard her younger sister's voice. "Blake, I missed you!"

"Ruby, I was only gone for six hours." Blake gave a slight smile as Ruby hugged her. "I know, but I've been waiting for you all day so we can finish our show."

"Let me change then I'll meet you downstairs. Wait, where's Yang?" Blake made her way up the staircase that hadn't been repaired in years and Ruby followed her. "She's out with Neo. You know how they are."

"What about Dad?"

"He's in the garage fixing up Bumblebee."

Blake closed the door to her room leaving Ruby on the other side. "How was work today Blake?"

"Fairly uninteresting, but there was a girl who came in today looking a photography book."

"Wow, from what you've said not many people want those."

"Yeah, she's apparently majoring in it."

"Where's she going to school? What's her name?" Ruby drummed her finger on the floor.

"Her name's Weiss and she's going to Beacon. Why are you so interested in her?"

"I'm not, not really anyway, it's just that most of the people who go to the bookstore are older and it's nice to hear you talk about someone who's the same age as you and Yang."

Blake opened her drawer and got out a comfortable t-shirt and pants. She rubbed the necklace that was in the drawer and smiled softly. Blake had bounced around in foster homes for many years before coming to the Xiao Long household in her last year of middle school. Ruby, Yang, their father Tai, dog Zwei and Uncle Qrow all accepted her without hesitation or doubts. Despite the fact that Tai was a single father who was already taking care of two kids he didn't even hesitate before deciding to adopt her. It was one of her happiest memories and she was eternally grateful to them all for opening their home to her.

"Blake, are you coming?" Ruby's voice cut through the girl's thoughts and she shook her head. "Yeah, sorry. I'm coming." Blake replied.

Blake got undressed then redressed and moved back to her door and opened it. "Okay Ruby, I'm ready. Let's go downstairs."

Blake closed her door then headed to the staircase. "Hey Ruby, are you looking forward to your junior year?"

"Yeah, I am. Penny and I picked our classes together so hopefully we have at least one class with each other."

"So, how's your relationship with her going?"

"It's going just fine. Penny is amazing, we're a lot alike and it's really enjoyable being with someone who's so similar to me." Ruby's eyes became sparkly, the same way they always did when she talked about her girlfriend.

Blake collapsed onto the couch and Ruby fell next to her. They turned on the TV that was on the wall and put the show that they had been watching for over a week.

 ** _Decided to dive back into this and I've decided to put this story on an upload schedule. I'll be putting this story on a twice a month update schedule._**

 _ **Drop a follow, favorite or review to let me know what you think of this one.**_

 _ **Until Next Month**_

 _ **Dragondeathdrop**_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

First day

Weiss had woken up early today. It was her first day at Beacon University and even though she had gone through the orientation months earlier she was nervous because she didn't accidentally want to do something embarrassing like walking into the wrong classroom.

She took a look at the map that she had downloaded on her scroll. She had highlighted her classes, starred what rooms they were in and made sure that she gave herself at least forty-five minutes to get to the campus on time.

Once she found a place to park, she realized that she was on the opposite side of campus. "This is why I gave myself a lot of extra time. Now I don't have to rush." Weiss started walking across the campus that was in the beginnings of transitioning from summer into autumn.

* * *

"Hurry up Yang, we're running late!" Blake yelled up the staircase. Yang had overslept, despite Blake's repeated reminders, and now they only had thirty minutes to get to their first class on time. Thankfully they only lived twenty minutes away but Yang was pushing her time as far as it could go.

"I'm ready. Let's go." Yang grabbed her bag and slid down the banister. The blonde had always had a problem with time but it wasn't really her fault that she stayed up until one in the morning texting Neo.

Blake grabbed her keys and flew out the door leaving Yang to shut and lock it behind her. As Blake started her car Yang hopped into the passenger seat, buckled up and they were off.

Weiss arrived at her classroom with twenty minutes to spare so she took out her headphones and leaned against the wall next to the door, she closed her eyes as classical music filled her ears.

They managed to get to Beacon early since there was thankfully very little traffic.

Once they were parked, Blake and Yang went their separate ways. Blake was going to one class while Yang's was on the other side of the campus.

Yang put in her yellow headphones that Neo had gotten her for her last birthday and put one of her favorite rock/metal songs on.

As Yang made her way up the staircase that led to her classroom, she saw a white-haired girl sitting on the floor. Like her the girl also had their headphones in but their eyes were closed.

Yang took a seat across from them and stared at the wall above them since she didn't want to be caught looking in case she opened her eyes.

As Yang drummed her fingers across her leg absentmindedly. the girl across from her opened her eyes and removed one of their headphones. "Oh, I didn't realize that anyone else had gotten here. I apologize."

"It's no problem, I didn't want to disturb you."

"No, not at all. So, are you in Professor Peach's biology class as well?" The white-haired girl had pale blue eyes.

"Yeah, sure am. My name's Yang." The blonde extended her hand which was gently grasped by the girl across from her. The girl's hands were cold, almost as if she had submerged them in ice cold water. Yang could see the goosebumps across Weiss' hand.

"I'm Weiss. It's a pleasure to meet you Yang." Weiss was a little taken aback by how warm Yang's hand was. While Weiss was naturally cold this girl in front of her must have been the exact opposite since she could feel the warmth radiate up from Yang's hand into her own arm.

Once the introductions were complete their respective hands went back to their respective owners. Each was waiting for the other to say something. Weiss closed her eyes again and Yang decided to speak up. "So, what kind of music are you listening to Weiss?"

"Classical music. It's what my sister and I listen too so it's familiar. What about you Yang?"

"I like rock and heavy metal. But I'm slowly getting used to my sisters' tastes as well."

"I see, and what kind of music do they like?"

"One isn't so much into songs with vocals. She prefers OSTs." At Weiss' blank look Yang sighed and explained. "It stands for Original Soundtrack." She then paused the current song that she was listening too and switched it to a different one.

She turned her scroll's volume up slightly and let Weiss listen to it. After a moment Weiss nodded "Oh, I see. That's interesting."

"My other sister has really eclectic tastes when it comes to music. She has rock music, metal music, softer music, piano tracks, a large amount of game and anime related music."

Weiss looked at her scroll. "Oh, we have five minutes until our class starts. We should find our seats."

Yang got off of the floor and offered a hand to Weiss who took it and let Yang pull her upwards. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Weiss opened the door to Professor Peach's classroom and once Yang entered, she followed. The two took seats next to each other near the front of the room and waited for their first day of college to begin.

* * *

Blake made it to her class without incident and saw Neo's multicolored hair in the second row against the wall. She made her way over to her sister's girlfriend and slid into the seat next to her. Professor Oobleck's history class was pretty full so she was happy that the seat next to Neo was empty.

[Hey Blake, you're in this class too huh?] Neo signed quickly and Blake nodded. Neo had graduated the year before either of them but she had taken the previous year off so this was only her second semester in college.

[Yeah, have you had Professor Oobleck before?]

[He's one of my favorite professors. Just a warning though, you'll want to take quick notes because Professor Oobleck talks really fast.]

[Thanks for the warning.] Blake signed and then she opened her bag to retrieve a notebook and pen.

After Yang and Weiss' class was over the blonde took a look at her scroll and saw a text from Neo waiting for her. "Hey Weiss, I'm going to meet my girlfriend and sister for coffee. You want to tag along?"

"I really shouldn't. I don't want to interrupt anything. But I appreciate the offer." Weiss' voice had suddenly turned shy. She wasn't used to being asked to go... well anywhere really so Yang's offer was unexpected.

"I just texted them and they're fine with you coming along." Yang said as she dropped her notebook into her bag.

"If you insist. Then I'll gladly join you."

They made their way outside and down the staircase. "They're meeting us at a coffeeshop across the street. Let's get going." Yang walked down the sidewalk and Weiss kept pace with her.

* * *

Blake and Neo got to the coffeeshop they were meeting Yang and one of her classmates at. Since they got there early, they decided to get a table that could fit all four of them comfortably. As the two settled in Blake got a book out from her bag and Neo put one of her headphones in.

When the door chimed their heads went up and they saw Yang walk in with a smile on her face as she scanned the patrons and saw them. Her classmate followed right behind and as amber eyes met ice blue they widened in recognition. "You're the one who sold me my photography book." Weiss muttered as she sat down.

"You're Weiss correct?" Blake asked.

"I am. Your name is Blake." Weiss answered and then snapped her fingers gently as she remembered.

"It is." Blake tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and then bookmarked her page. She set her book down on the table gently.

Yang looked between her sister and her classmate. "Wait, you two know each other?"

"Yes, Weiss came into the bookstore looking for a photography book and I helped her find it. She mentioned that she was attending Beacon and I told her that I was as well." Blake said with a small shrug as she got up to order herself something. "Do you two want anything?" She looked at Yang and Neo who shook their heads. "What about you Weiss?"

Weiss got up and smiled softly. "I appreciate the offer but I'll get myself a coffee."

"Fair enough."

Once they ordered their respective drinks and got them, they made their way back to the table and sat down. Blake had ordered a mint tea while Weiss asked for a black coffee with two creams. "So, how was your history class?" Yang asked both her girlfriend and her sister.

 _ **Here's chapter three. I hope you all like it.**_

 _ **Feel free to keep following, favoriting and especially reviewing to let me know what you think.**_

 _ **Until the next chapter**_

 _ **Dragondeathdrop**_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

Sisterly conversations

Weiss was on the way back to her shared apartment. It was sunset now and even though her class had ended a while ago she wasn't expecting to spend the hours that she did talking with Yang, Neo and to a lesser extent Blake.

After she had gotten over the awkwardness that she felt being thrust into such an unfamiliar situation she found that Yang and Neo were surprisingly easy to talk to. Weiss tried to include Blake as much as she could, but something told her that Blake had been largely ignored which wasn't her intent.

She opened her apartment door and threw her bag on the couch with a thump. "Winter, I'm home!" She then went to her room in the small two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment to change into something more suitable for being at home.

As Weiss entered her small, sparsely decorated room she heard her sister's door further down the hall open. She moved over to her dresser and pulled out an old t-shirt and some shorts when she heard Winter's voice. "Weiss, why'd you get home so late? I thought your class ended a couple of hours ago."

"It did but a classmate of mine invited me to get coffee with her, her girlfriend and her sister and we just started to talk."

"Well, that's good. I'm glad that you're making friends here. You were so unhappy in Atlas."

"Please don't remind me. Wait, why are you awake? Doesn't your shift not start for another three hours?"

"You came home, and I was already awake, so I wanted to ask you how your first day at Beacon went." Weiss opened her door and gazed at her older sister.

Winter's hair was unkempt, and she was wearing a wrinkled t-shirt and leggings. She worked nights at Mantle Security Holdings which was a defense contractor that had an office in Vale.

Most of the time the sisters barely saw each other so the fact that Winter both remembered that it was her first day at Beacon and sacrificed valuable sleep in the process was very touching for Weiss.

"My classes went fine. It's only the first day so today was pretty basic overall." Weiss walked to her sister.

"I'm glad. Now I'm going back to bed. If you get hungry there are things in the freezer that you can heat up okay?" Winter kissed her younger sister's forehead.

"Thanks for telling me but I ate at the café so I should be fine."

"Okay, love you, Weiss."

"Love you too, Winter."

Blake and Yang had said goodbye to Neo who promised to text when she got home and were making their way back to Blake's car. The ride was quiet until Yang turned down the radio. "Hey Blake, did you feel like you were being ignored at the café?"

Blake drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as she shook her head. "No, I didn't. I've only met Weiss one other time and that was for a grand total of maybe five minutes. Besides, you talked enough for g the both of us."

Yang frowned and pouted exaggeratedly. "Wow, thanks for the compliment," She said with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

"I didn't mean it that way and you know it. I just meant that you're the outgoing one, so it'd be odd if you didn't do a good portion of the talking," Blake clarified as she eased her foot onto the brake.

Yang's frown became a smile as she played with a lock of her hair. "Oh, well, in that case, I forgive you." Yang turned the radio up again just as one of her favorite songs came on. The blonde started to hum along to the opening chords and to her surprise Blake found herself joining in.

The song lasted just long enough for them to arrive home, so it was perfect timing. Once Blake had parked and locked her car the sisters headed inside only to see Ruby fly down the staircase. "Blake, Yang. Where were you? I've been waiting for hours! I wanna hear about your first days at Beacon."

"Geez Ruby, give us a minute will ya?"

Ruby groaned softly. "Fine, I'll be in the living room."

After they got changed in their respective rooms, Blake into a long-sleeved shirt and leggings with Yang changing into a t-shirt and boy shorts, they made their way downstairs where Ruby was waiting anxiously for them.

"Okay, Ruby. Whose day do you want to hear about first?"

Ruby paused the show she was watching and pointed to Blake.

As Blake talked about her history class, how Neo was in it and that she enjoyed Professor Oobleck's style of teaching. She left out the part about the café since Yang would talk about it and she could interject with her comments.

Once she was done talking about her day, she elbowed Yang gently. Yang had gotten the text from Neo that said that she had gotten home so she was telling her that they had arrived home as well.

Yang put down her phone and started telling Ruby about how she met Weiss while they were waiting for their class to start and that they got along well. She talked about how Professor Peach was nice and had insisted that they call her by her first name.

She then talked about how she invited Weiss to get coffee and from there Blake helped tell the story. Ruby absorbed everything silently. "I'm glad that you two had such good days and that you liked your teachers. Weiss sounds like she's a very nice person."

"Enough about us though. How was your first day of junior year?" Yang asked.

"Oh, it was very good. I have Mr. Port's history class with Penny."

The mention of Mr. Port caused both Yang and Blake to groan. The man was a good teacher, but he also had a bad habit of launching into long-winded and terribly boring stories about himself which always caused a good portion of the class to fall asleep.

The sisters continued to talk until their father came home with bags of takeout to celebrate the girls' first days.

Weiss spent the rest of the night simply relaxing since there was nothing really to study. She didn't get hungry so once she felt tired, she locked the door to the apartment, set her alarm and went to bed.

The next morning Weiss got up and was surprised to see Winter entering the apartment after a long night's shift. "Morning Weiss. Did you sleep okay?" Winter asked as she took off her shoes and put them next to the door.

"I slept well. How was work?"

Winter moved sluggishly to the kitchen and grabbed a cup so she could pour herself some water. "It was pretty busy. One of our clients requested a large shipment so it's going to be all-hands-on-deck for the next few weeks."

"Wow, sounds like you're going to be super busy… I guess I'm going to be seeing you less than I already do for a while huh?" Weiss frowned and looked down.

"I'm afraid so. I wish it wasn't the case, but it is." Winter sighed as she confirmed Weiss' thought. She looked at her sister and smiled. "But enough about that. Tell me about the people you hung out with yesterday."

Weiss let a small smile form. "Well, there's Yang who's in my science class. She and I sit next to each other so we're lab partners. She's very talkative and outgoing. She has long blonde hair and lilac eyes. There's Neo who is Yang's girlfriend. She doesn't talk but she communicates using sign language which is interesting. She has half of her hair dyed a bright bubblegum pink and her personality contrasts Yang's to a degree." Weiss took a breath.

Winter had put down her cup and was intently listening to her sister's breakdown of her new peers. She was glad that Weiss had peers to talk about at all since she never talked about the people she interacted with back in Atlas. "How does Neo's personality contrast with Yang's?"

Weiss thought for a moment. "Well, they're both outgoing. Neo less so than Yang, but Neo definitely has more of a sarcastic side then Yang does."

"Huh. what about the sister?"

"Her name is Blake. I met her when I got my new photography book. She's quiet and reserved but I know that she likes books because she wants to be a librarian. She has ebony black hair and striking amber eyes. There's something about her that makes me want to get to know her better."

Weiss shot a glance towards the oven clock. "I have to get ready to go to class. Talk to you tonight?"

Winter nodded. "If I'm not gone by then."

 _ **Weiss, Blake and Yand recap their days to their respective sisters and we learn a little about how Winter's and Ruby's days were.**_

 _ **Feel free to keep following, favoriting and especially reviewing to let me know what you think.**_

 _ **Until the next chapter**_

 _ **Dragondeathdrop**_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

Meeting the sister and learning about Blake

It had been two weeks since the semester had started and Weiss had, to her surprise, become fast friends with Yang. Maybe it was the fact that they were lab partners or maybe it was the fact that Yang would have talked her ear off regardless of if Weiss was okay with it or not.

They got along really well despite their contrasting personalities and they quickly settled into a pattern where Weiss would arrive at Professor Peach's class before Yang and they'd exchange banter for a few minutes before class started. Yang told her all about how her and Blake's youngest sister Ruby was a junior in high school and excelled at engineering.

Ruby had apparently taken apart their computer when she was four and put it back together again. She was crazy smart when it came to engineering and it was her passion in life.

Weiss mentioned at one point that she'd like to meet her so Yang asked if she was available this weekend which Weiss was and Yang invited her over for dinner.

Weiss was nervous about going over to Yang's house because she never got invited anywhere back in Atlas. When Weiss brought it up to Winter, she thought it was a good idea for Weiss to go "It's good to get out and expand your social circle."

Finally, the day arrived and Weiss could feel her nerves getting worse and worse the closer she got to the Xiao Long home. She was almost trembling as she walked up to the front door and knocked rapidly.

"Weiss, glad you could make it. Come in, please." Yang swung open the door and gave Weiss a smile as Neo poked her head out from behind the blond and grabbed Weiss' hand to pull her inside.

The girls' father came out from the kitchen and held out his hand for Weiss to shake which she did. "So, you're Weiss? It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Taiyang Xiao Long."

"Weiss, nice to see you again." Blake's voice came from the top of the staircase as the black-haired girl walked down the creaky old wooden steps and she clearly wasn't the only one upstairs as she was followed by a white and black Corgi who was dragging an old fuzzy blue blanket behind his small body.

"Nice to see you again as well, Blake." Weiss said as she kneeled down to pet the dog who had sat down and licked her hand a few times.

"Zwei, stop." A new voice said as they walked to the staircase. It belonged to a girl who looked like she was a few years younger than Weiss was.

She had brunette hair that had red tips to it and she was followed by yet another girl who had dyed orange hair. The first girl slid down the banister and landed in front of Weiss before she stuck her hand out. "Hello, my name is Ruby Rose. It's a pleasure to meet you Weiss."

Weiss took her hand. "Nice to meet you as well, Ruby Rose."

The orange haired girl smiled as she came down to Ruby and wrapped their hands together. "I'm Penny Polendina, Ruby's girlfriend. It's a pleasure to meet you friend, Weiss."

Before Weiss could reply, Yang's voice came from the kitchen. "Looks like dinner's ready! Come and get before it's gone!"

The girls all filed into the kitchen as Yang took the lid of the crockpot as Tai was busy getting some bread from the oven. "Dinner tonight is chili and cornbread. Ruby, can you get the plates and the utensils? Blake, can you get seven cups of water?"

The two set about doing the task their dad assigned them as Neo took one of Weiss' arms and dragged her over to the dining table. At Neo's insistence Weiss took a seat and waited for the food to be brought out.

Once everyone was seated and all the food was out, they dug in. It was delicious… yet also somewhat spicy which for someone who didn't have much of a spice palette like Weiss was rather annoying.

Regardless of that fact, Weiss was enjoying the chili which was phenomenal. It was a mix of tomato sauce, chili powder and various meats. Even though she wasn't the biggest fan of spicy food Weiss ate all of her initial bowl and even went back for seconds.

By the time everyone was done there was only a little bit of the chili left. While everyone else had only one or two bowls Yang and Neo had three bowls each which Weiss found a bit ridiculous but she wasn't going to judge since it was delicious chili.

Once dinner was over everyone filed into the living room because tonight was apparently board game night which Weiss found intriguing since she hadn't participated in a 'board game night' before.

Apparently, how it worked was that they'd all be playing against each other which Weiss was fine with because this way she'd be able to have the most fun.

One thing she quickly learned was that Yang, Neo and Ruby were all really competitive and were LOUD when they played. The noise from the sisters got to a point where everyone else slipped out one by one so they could hear themselves think.

Weiss made her way outside and onto the porch where she saw Blake sitting on the grass in the front yard. "So, you came here to try to escape the noise too huh?' Blake's quiet voice rang through the silent night.

"Yeah, I didn't mean to disturb you." Weiss said as she walked to the steps.

"It's fine. You're welcome to come and sit with me if you want."

Weiss considered it for a moment before going and joining Blake. The stars and the moon were twinkling high above the two as they sat in the grass together, one looking at the sky while the other gazed at the ground.

"Even after all this time I'm still not used to how much noise they can make," Blake murmured quietly. She wasn't really speaking to anyone which Weiss knew but that comment put a question in her mind.

"What do you mean, Blake?" she looked at Blake curiously.

"Oh, I was just talking to myself... I didn't want to interrupt your stargazing," Blake replied quietly before sighing. "But if you really want to know I can tell you."

"I'm not going to pry. If you don't want to tell me then don't."

Blake shrugged, "You'll find out at some point and honestly I'd rather be the one to tell you. I'm not Ruby and Yang's actual blood sister as you could probably guess. I was adopted into the family when I was in my last year of middle school. Until then I'd be with a family for a few months and then get sent away for one reason or another until-" Blake paused and then continued. "Until Tai decided to adopt me. He was a single father of two girls yet he decided to adopt a third. He gave me a home and a family."

"Blake, I don't even know what to say," Weiss whispered.

"You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to tell you so you knew that's all."

"Well… Thank you for telling me."

"No problem."

 _ **Weiss finally meets Ruby and gets to visit the Xiao Long/Rose household and she learns Blake's origin's. Blake opens up to Weiss about her take on her origins while saying that if anyone was gonna tell Weiss it was gonna be her. Could the first small sign of love be appearing or was it merely friendly?**_

 _ **I'll have the next chapter out soon**_

 _ **Dragondeathdrop**_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

Sleepover Plans

Blake knew better than to take Yang at her word when her blond-haired, purple-eyed sister said that she wanted to hold a "small" sleepover. Yang had been trying to get Tai to let her host a sleepover since the semester began, and after many many days of bringing it up at every opportunity, Yang finally got her way.

She began planning what she called a "Cosplay Sleepover" immediately. "We can dress up as our favorite characters and then spend the night playing wacky games and watching movies together." was how she decided to pitch it to her sisters.

This was interesting because even though they all cosplayed at Vale's yearly convention, Yang had expressed absolutely no interest in cosplaying on the other three hundred and sixty-two days of the year.

Blake suspected that Neo had something to do with it, but she simply smiled at her and said that it sounded like fun.

Yang very unsubtly hinted that Blake should invite Weiss to come, which only earned her a questioning look, but Blake did think that Weiss might enjoy it.

So, she asked Yang to invite her, but Yang said that it should come directly from Blake, this only confused Blake more.

However, Yang decided to take it out of her sister's hands by both giving her Weiss' scroll number and by telling her that Blake would soon be texting. So, after putting Weiss as a contact in her scroll, Blake sent her an invite.

{Hello Weiss, It's Blake. Yang is holding a sleepover here this weekend and I thought that you'd like to come. If you can't make it then I understand.}

Less than a minute later, Weiss responded with a short reply. {I'm free this weekend, I'll come.}

Blake smiled despite herself and texted Weiss all the details. When she should arrive and what to bring. Perhaps some soda? Maybe in addition to a change of clothes and a toothbrush.

Blake blushed as the tips of her ears burned red. She sent an apology with the excuse that this was her first time hosting a sleepover since she was adopted.

Weiss was doing her homework when her scroll buzzed with the notification that she got a text. She guessed that it was from Yang, since Winter rarely texted, and was immediately proven right when she read the text which read simply {Gave Blake your number, she should be texting in a moment.}

As Weiss was rereading it, she did indeed get a text from an unfamiliar number which identified that it was, in fact, Blake that was texting her. It turned out to be an invitation to a sleepover and Weiss was both touched and puzzled as to why they decided to invite her.

But, remembering Winter's words, Weiss typed out a reply with a small smile on her face.

It was really nice that Blake had decided to invite her to the sleepover, even if Weiss suspected that Yang had something to do with it, but it was the thought that mattered to her the most since she did consider the three of them friends even though she hadn't worked up the nerve to tell them that yet.

When Winter came home that night, exhausted from working for 48 hours, Weiss made them both a small dinner and as she did, she mentioned it to her. "So, Blake invited me to a sleepover at her house. I'd like to go to it if that's okay with you. I imagine it's going to be for a night at least."

Winter yawned sleepily before taking a bite of her grilled cheese sandwich. At first, Weiss wasn't sure that her older sister had heard her and almost repeated the question when Winter yawned again before nodding.

"You should go. These girls consider you a friend of theirs because they went through all this effort to ask you to come in the first place, as long as you text me when you get there and every so often so I know that you're okay then you can go and have fun."

Winter finished her sandwich and put the plate in the dishwasher before moving to the hallway. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Weiss."

"Goodnight."

"Don't stay up too late!" Winter told her before she shut the door to her room so she could sleep.

Weiss finished her food before she went to the small, rarely used, dining room table and began to work on a particularly vexing assignment for biology class.

The weekend rolled around and Blake was excited. She had been to sleepovers plenty of times at Ilia's house with Neon, but that was before they had both decided to leave Vale for Mistral which was several hours away, so they didn't get to see each other that much.

Blake shook her head clear as Neo brought in the cupcakes since she loved cupcakes. Yang's girlfriend had put on a black wig and green contacts with a black and white outfit.

She looked pretty comfortable in it which made sense since it was Neo's "Everyday" cosplay outfit which she wore around town and generally whenever she wanted too.

Blake adjusted her cat ear headband while Yang and Ruby brought in the rest of the sleepover supplies that they brought down from the attics which included the air mattresses and the box which contained the extra blankets that were normally reserved for when the snow was falling in wintertime.

Almost as soon as they were set up the doorbell rang and Blake went to go answer it with Zwei at her heels. With a quick peek out of the window, she saw Weiss standing there with a small bag on her back.

Blake let Weiss in, and Zwei yipped happily at the white-haired newcomer's heels, encouraging her to bend down and pet him which she immediately did with soft cooing noises at how cute he was.

Once Weiss was done petting him, and Zwei was content, she stood up and stared at Blake for a moment. Something was different but she couldn't figure out what which is when her eyes drifted upwards to see a cat headband on Blake's head.

Weiss then realized that it wasn't just Blake that had on something that she usually didn't.

Yang's right arm had black and yellow paint on it, while the sleeve was rolled up, it was then that Weiss saw that everything from her fingers up to her elbow was painted either yellow or black, she was wearing black boy shorts and an orange midriff-baring t-shirt that had a flame symbol on it.

"Hey, Weiss, glad you could make it," Yang said as Ruby smiled at her while wrapping both herself and Penny in a big fluffy red blanket. The two of them didn't look any different.

Neo came into the living room and offered Weiss a cupcake which she took with a delicate grab. Neo was the most differently dressed since she had put on what looked like a black wig and green contact lenses instead of her regular brown eyes.

"Wow Neo, that's… quite a sleepover outfit..." Weiss muttered as she looked down at her clothes, which was a light blue jacket over a plain white t-shirt and black jeans.

Yang smiled and chuckled. "Oops, I guess we should have mentioned that this was a cosplay sleepover and to dress up a little bit. Aw well, it happens."

Blake blushed out of embarrassment and stammered. "S-sorry… I should have mentioned it…"

Weiss shook her head as she put her hands up. "No, no it's fine really. Don't feel bad I wouldn't have been able to dress up in cosplay anyway. I'm not even sure what it is honestly."

Neo's mouth opened in a silent gasp as she started to sign rapidly which caused Yang to scramble to start translating for her.

After a rapid series of translations, Weiss understood what it was and scratched her head. "Thank you for the helpful lesson, Neo." She set her bag down and placed her camera's case on the end table. "But, if it's all the same to you I prefer to photograph rather than be photographed."

Neo nodded and smiled before going to grab a cupcake from the kitchen.

 _ **Geez, it's been FAR FAR too long and for that, I apologize! The one-two punch of classes and writer's block hit me hard! I'll try to get chapter seven out as soon as I can!**_

 _ **Dragondeathdrop**_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

Becoming a cosplay photographer

So far, the sleepover seemed to be going well. Weiss was having a lot of fun just hanging out with her... friends… yeah, she considered Ruby, Yang, Neo, Penny and Blake her friends.

Neo kept glancing at Weiss' camera case until she finally walked over to it and looked at Weiss before signing to Yang, who translated for her. "Weiss, can I look at your camera?" Yang asked while she motioned to Neo to make it clear who was actually asking.

"Sure, just be careful with it. It's very important to me and if it broke…" Weiss said as she grabbed another cupcake before sending Winter a text that she was having fun and was okay.

Neo nodded to show that she understood. She began to carefully unzip the camera case before pulling out the camera with deliberate delicacy and admiring it. The α5100 model camera was one of Weiss' most prized possessions and she took really good care of it.

She had gravitated towards photography from an early age and would often spend time taking pictures of everyday objects around the house in Atlas.

Jacques had thought photography a useless talent and actively tried to discourage his daughter's gift in it until Willow, in a rare show of force, got him to back off and stop.

Not long after that before her first year of high school when she came to live with Winter, she had found this camera wrapped in a box with a card. Winter had put some money away and bought it for her as a birthday gift for her which Weiss was grateful for since she honestly hadn't remembered her birthday was close.

Winter had ensured that it would be delivered in time for her younger sister's birthday even though by that time she had moved to Vale.

Weiss kept a protective eye on her precious as Neo went to show Ruby, Yang, Penny, and Blake. They admired the camera for a few seconds before Neo came back and gave it to Weiss.

"Thank you for being gentle with it, Neo I appreciate it."

Neo nodded and mimed taking a photo as she sat down. Weiss looked at her and smiled before setting it on the table again and putting the delay for sixty seconds. She rushed back to the couch and said: "Okay guys, get ready for a picture."

Neo scooped up some of the frosting from Yang's cupcake and put it on her girlfriend's nose while Yang did the same. Ruby and Blake wrapped an arm around each other's shoulders while Weiss sat in between them while Penny was on the floor in front of Ruby.

Weiss smiled as she remembered the first picture that she had actually taken which was of the two sisters in the snow of Vale together. The two had gotten into a small snowball fight and were shivering cold when Weiss wanted to get a picture but they had and they were both smiling in the rare moment that they had genuine fun doing something.

The flash brought her out of the past and back to the present as she blinked the white spots in her vision away while Neo and Ruby rubbed their eyes. Weiss got up to look at the picture which made her smile more apparent. "Well, it doesn't look like anyone blinked which is good because this is a perfect picture."

She went to show her friends and they all were really happy with how their group picture turned out. Neo bit her lip before looking at Yang and started to rapidly sign. As she signed, she pointed at Weiss and then continued.

Weiss looked on in confusion as Yang and Neo signed back and forth for a bit before Yang took a breath. "Neo has a question for you Weiss. She's saying that if you don't want to it's okay but she wanted to ask. She wants to know if you'd be her photographer for the convention in a few months."

Weiss blinked her ice blue eyes rapidly as she wasn't entirely sure what Neo was asking. "Like, your cosplay photographer?" She asked slowly which caused Neo to nod her head in affirmative.

"She says it'd mean a lot to her but that you don't have to if you don't want too." Yang translated as Neo signed again before adding. "The five of us try to go every year in cosplay and we thought you'd want to see what it's about too, you know? I mean, the five of us consider you a friend and we thought you'd like it."

"I'll have to ask Winter once I have the dates for it but I'll gladly go since you're all insisting," Weiss told her.

That caused smiles in her five friends and Yang pumped a fist. "Awesome!"

 _ **Well, first off let me apologize SO SO SO much for the almost four-month delay. Between the fact that I got a massive case of writer's block and the fact that school hit hard and fast it's just been nearly impossible to find time to write. I hope to have some time in the near future so that I actually can write.**_

 _ **Regardless, let me know what you think via a follow, favorite or review.**_

 _ **See you all soon, Hopefully.**_

 _ **Dragondeathdrop**_


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